The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios, Argentina), where swastika graffiti were daubed on the perimeter walls.

Jewish immigrants to Argentina drawn to the Baron Hirsch settlements in the late 19th century first established their agricultural cooperatives in Entre Rios. They later became romanticized as “los gauchos judíos” (“Jewish cowboys”).

In a letter to Entre Rios Government Minister, Adán Bahl, Dr. Shimon Samuels (Director for International Relations of the Wiesenthal Center) and Sergio Widder (the Center’s Director for Latin America) stated that “such assaults on the dead signal danger to the living and can have no place in a democratic Argentina. We expect a prompt and bold response from the authorities of a province that has been long connected to the history of Argentine Jewry. This act demands an immediate investigation to identify and arrest the perpetrators of this desecration”.

“Schools in the Province must be exposed to Holocaust education to prevent future such attacks. We are ready to provide materials turn this desecration into an opportunity for tolerance building in cooperation with the local authorities”, concluded the Center’s officials.

For further information, contact Shimon Samuels at +336 09770158, or Sergio Widder at +54911 4425-1306.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).